On this episode of Return to the ’80s, Robert and Paul welcome Ty Ray, from the Beats and Eats podcast, to the show. The guys Return to 1981, and count down the year’s top songs, movies, and television shows. Also, find out what the biggest selling toys were in 1981, and reminisce on the big news stories of the year.

As this current decade comes to a close, come join us to Return to the greatest decade ever, and check out the awesome year of 1981!

Jun 2 Barbara Walters asks Katharine Hepburn what kind of tree she would be

Jun 5 AIDS Epidemic officially begins when US Centers for Disease Control reports on pneumonia affecting five homosexual men in Los Angeles

Jun 12 Baseball players begin a 50 day strike, their 3rd strike

July 29 Royal Wedding

Aug 1 MTV premieres at 12:01 AM

Aug 3 13,000 Air Traffic Controllers (PATCO) begin their strike; US President Ronald Reagan offers an ultimatum to workers: ‘if they do not report for work within 48 hours, they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated’

Sep 12 “The Smurfs” animated cartoon series by Hanna-Barbera first broadcasts in North America

Out of Touch vs. I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)

Well, here we are. The Hall & Oates Finals! This has been an incredible tournament. For many of us, this has been more exciting than the actual NCAA tournament.
“Out of Touch” reached this round by defeating “Maneater” by a score of 11-10. “Out of Touch” was released as the lead single from Big Bam Boom on October 4, 1984, and it was their last Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, topping the chart for two weeks in December 1984. It also became the duo’s fourteenth consecutive top 40 hit since 1980.

“I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” reached the final round by edging out “You Make My Dreams” by a score of 11-9. “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” was released as the second single from their tenth studio album, Private Eyes (1981). The song became the fourth number-one hit single of their career on the Billboard Hot 100 and the second hit single from Private Eyes.

So, which of these #1 songs will get the distinction of being the champion of the Return to the ’80s 2018 March Madness Tournament? Voting is open now, and will close at 12:00pm Eastern on Monday, March 26.

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Wow! What a finish to the Elite 8! There were two blowouts, and two tight matches. And one of those matches had to go into overtime! And the overtime was very exciting. I posted the overtime poll on Twitter, the 80s Fans Unite!!! Facebook group, and the Return to the ’80s Facebook group. “Kiss On My List” defeated “You Make My Dreams” by the narrow margin of 23-22. On the the 80s Fans Unite!!! page, “Dreams” squeaked by 5-4. The tie breaker was on the Return to the ’80s Facebook group page where “Dreams” won handily 6-0, moving it on to the next round. We’re getting down to the nitty gritty now! You can place a vote in each bracket

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Daryl Hall (left) and John Oates in New Haven, CT, in March 1985. (Glenn Osmundson/Inquirer File Photo)

Welcome back to the Hall & Oates March Madness Tournament! It took me all weekend to try to come up with these brackets. There are so many incredible songs to choose from, so it was difficult. While all Hall & Oates songs are great, we are now getting into the elite. So, things are about to get very interesting.

Speaking of interesting, while listening to podcasts yesterday, I got to Martha Quinn’s totally awesome podcast Talk Talk with Martha Quinn. On this particular latest episode, Martha had none other than John Oates as a guest! It was a phenomenal interview. Hall & Oates is going to be touring with the group Train. So they spoke on that. And John Oates also has a brand new solo album out called Arkansas. It is a great album all the way through! It doesn’t have that classic Hall & Oates sound. This particular album has a kind of old school country/western feel, but blended with a modern sound. It reminded me of the first part of Van Halen’s “Ice Cream Man”. It is very cool, and I suggest you check it out. And if you are reading this, I would highly suggest that you listen and subscribe to Martha Quinn’s podcast, Talk Talk with Martha Quinn. You can also listen to Martha every single morning from 6am – 10am Pacific time on iHeart80s @ 103.7.

OK, let’s move on to the Elite 8. Just like yesterday, you can vote for a song in each bracket. You can also click on the song title to get the YouTube video. This poll will be open for 24 hours. Please share this with all your friends. The more votes there are, the more exciting this will get.

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Hi Everybody! This year, I decided to hop on the March Madness bandwagon. Hall & Oates was the biggest duo of the ’80s, and one of the biggest acts, period. Between 1981 and 1984, they had five #1 hits, and 21 Top 40 hits, with most of them reaching the Top 10. So, let’s see what your favorite is. There is only 24 hours until the next round, so vote early, and please share with as many people as you can, so we can get a great voter turnout. I appreciate your vote. Just pick one song from each of the ‘A’ and ‘B’ Brackets below. You can click on the song title to listen to the song on YouTube if you’d like.

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Welcome back to this week’s Top 40 Countdown!!! If you missed the previous songs, you can go ahead and check out songs 40-31, 30-21 and 20-11. We are down to our top 10 songs. We have some true classic songs coming up, so let’s get to it. Let’s Return to the week ending November 27, 1982, and wrap up this week’s countdown.

Speaking of Michael Jackson, this was the first single released from his up and coming album, Thriller. At least he got the worst song out of the way! It wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for all that yapping at the end.

Love this song by Joe Jackson! It peaked at #4, and was Jackson’s highest charting hit in the U.S. This song received a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year in 1983 but lost to “Rosanna” by Toto, which is fine by me.

Unfortunately, I am all too familiar with this song. My mom is the biggest Neil Diamond fan, so this was my life. I do like his early stuff a lot. But, I didn’t care much for his easy listening music. This song was written by Diamond, Carole Bayer Sager and her then-husband Burt Bacharach. They were inspired by the blockbuster movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which Diamond, Bayer Sager and Bacharach had all seen together.

This classic duet is from the film, An Officer and a Gentleman (which I have yet to see). The movie’s producer, Don Simpson, demanded “Up Where We Belong” be cut from An Officer and a Gentleman, saying, “The song is no good. It isn’t a hit.” (Sounds like a Trump tweet. Oh shit, here come the comments and emails!). It’s a good thing Simpson was a movie producer, and not a music producer. The song was a #1 hit in the US for three weeks, won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It also won the BAFTA Film Awards for Best Original Song in 1984. Cocker and Warnes also won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1983.

This is one of those new songs that was placed on a Greatest Hits album. And this song definitely belongs there! I love this ONJ song! It was the first single released off of Olivia’s Greatest Hits Vol. 2, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

I have always loved Laura Branigan’s voice, and I had a huge crush on her. I was devastated when she died in 2004 from a brain aneurysm. This was Branigan’s signature song. It peaked right here at #2, and remained her for three weeks.

“Hello” seems to get all the love out of Lionel Richie’s ballads. But, this one is my favorite. This was also Richie’s debut solo single. It was the first single released off of his self-titled debut album. The song won a Grammy Award for Richie in the category Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Not a shabby start for a solo career.

That wraps up this week’s countdown. I hope you enjoyed it. Did you have any favorite songs this week? Are there any that you got sick of hearing? I’d love to hear from you. Until next time, Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.